The Final Goodbye
by Wibbilywobbilytimeywimey
Summary: How I imagined the Doctor would really say goodbye to his old friend Donna Noble.


Heyyy to all my lovely readers, first off.

This is just a oneshot of Ten saying a proper goodbye to Donna. How, you may ask? Her brain would explode if she remembered. Well keep reading to find out!

Please please please leave your reviews. I want to know how I can improve!

Disclaimer: I do not own the BBC or Doctor Who or David Tennant or Catherine Tate or the hat which is mentioned or anything. Need I go on? I think NOT!

Enjoy!

The Final Goodbye

It was March 22, 2074; just nearly one o'clock in the morning. Donna Temple-Noble was lying down in a hospital bed surrounded by pictures of her family. Every once in a while she would glance at them, thinking each peek would be the last one.

Donna was old, 91 years old to be exact. She wasn't sick or hurting now. She was simply slowly growing out of the spark of life she had.

She was just about to rest her eyes for a final time when she heard a strange, but familiar sound. It was like a weird sort of wheeze. She tried placing it but was unsuccessful. Following that she heard the creak of a door and footsteps. She tried to sit up to see who was approaching but didn't quite have the strength.

Then the mysterious visitor very quietly came into her room. He was standing in the dark, but she could see the outline of a very skinny and messy haired man. As he stepped into the light she could see his face more clearly. The gentle smile and happiness in his eyes told her that he wasn't a bad guy. But she still couldn't figure why he was there.

"Who are you?" The words pushed themselves out of her mouth.

The strange man came closer to her, slowly coming to sit on her bed.

"Oh Donna, "he sighed. "I'm just an old friend passing by coming to say goodbye. Don't you remember me at all?"

Donna looked at him, concentrating on his lovely face. She was about to give up when a slight pain hit her head and she remembered.

"Doctor," she smiled, and the Doctor grinned back.

"I knew you'd remember. My Donna," he held her face in his hand and she reached out to take his other.

"It's been so long Doctor. What have you been up to? Have you had somebody?" She said the last part with genuine concern. It had been so long ago, but she remembered how lonely he could be and how much he needed someone with him.

"Oh I've had people with me. I'm never really alone. I even got married to good ol' Queen Elizabeth. But that's a story for another time," he said, though he knew there never could be a next time. "And you Donna? Have you been happy?"

She looked deeply in his eyes now. She saw how important this answer would be, how reassured he wanted to be that he didn't completely ruin her life.

"Life's been great Doctor. Very great."

She motioned to the pictures in which she sat with her husband and two lovely looking children. Happy grins lived on each of her picture's faces. The Doctor smile back at each one of them, knowing she was telling the truth.

Another sudden pain hit Donna's head and she remembered the reason why she couldn't even recognize the Doctor in the first place.

"I don't have much longer then, do I Doctor?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

The Doctor looked down and answered, " No, I'm afraid you don't Donna. I'm sorry."

"Oh don't be sorry you stupid spaceman," they both smiled at the little insult. "I just told you I lived a good life. What do you have to be sorry about?"

"Well you know... The whole... That's why I came back," he said pushing back his hair, trying to not mention the event explicitly. "I wanted to make sure you knew who you were in your last minutes. To know how truly important you are. I know you never thought you were and I thought you deserved to know everything you did."

Donna realized the Doctor hadn't even come back to see her one last time (though obviously it was an extremely good side effect). He had come back to make sure she was truly and completely happy with her life. That was her Doctor, always putting others before himself. He hadn't changed a bit.

"Doctor, I've missed you so much," Donna let slip. She rarely ever let her defensive side down, but she allowed it this time. The Doctor would never ever hurt her and she wanted to show the Doctor what he really meant to her. "I remember when I found you I felt so small, so alone. And you showed me how special and important I was. And I can't thank you enough for that."

A single tear slid down Donna's face and the Doctor wiped it off. He had never seen her so vulnerable and he could tell it wasn't easy.

"Shhh. It's okay Donna. I know. You don't have to go on. I know what you mean. But while we're here, I want to thank you, Donna Noble-"

"Donna Temple-Noble," she emphasized, back to her regular self.

"Yes. Donna Temple-Noble," the Doctor said, smiling. But now he turned serious. "Donna you meant so much to me. You were my best friend and in truth you saved me as much as I saved you. And I'm never going to be able to thank you enough for that."

There were no words now, just silence and an understanding look being exchanged between the two.

Another pain entered Donna's head and a slight gasp escaped from her lips. The Doctor knew why, but that didn't keep him from worrying over her.

"Donna, are you okay? I wished that you could remember everything until... You know. But if it hurts too much I can-" he rushed out, but was interrupted by Donna's surprisingly quiet words.

"Oi, Martian boy. Would ya just shut it and," she smiled and took a nice deep breath, "let me have some shut eye?"

Then it happened. 1:01 a.m. had come and Donna's last breath was used up. The Doctor looked back down at the wonderful woman, trying desperately to control his watering eyes. But there was no use, they came gliding down his face. Thankfully her eyes were already closed, for he didn't know if he would have had the strength to close them himself.

After five minutes of mourning the Doctor stood back up. It was time time for this story to end and for him to move on. He knew it was time to face what the Ood had to say about his future.

The Doctor was walking back to the TARDIS when he noticed a lei and strange sort of sun hat just sitting on a table. Normally he didn't just take things, but this time he thought he deserved at least that much in return for everything he had done. If major conflict broke out over it, he could always return it later.

As he placed the hat on his head, thoughts of Donna's old hatbox and her excitement over a planet populated by hats ran through his mind. He quickly pushed it out, not wanting to break down again.

He walked in the TARDIS and began fiddling with the controls as he always did. He glanced in a mirror and saw how ridiculous he looked.

"Well, who knows what'll happen with the Ood. Might as well dress for a party!" He joked, and continued to make way to his final destination with thoughts of Donna still trying to crowd their way in his mind.

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